Connected TV (CTV) continues to accelerate across Europe, but its growth is still constrained by fragmented measurement, inconsistent standards, and limited transparency across the supply chain. Building on this, IAB Europe recently convened a dedicated CTV Measurement Workshop, bringing together leading sell‑side players to begin aligning on a shared framework for the region. That session underscored both the urgency and the opportunity: the industry is ready to collaborate, but foundational alignment is essential.
To explore these challenges further, and highlight the work already underway , members of our CTV Working Group shared their perspectives on today’s biggest gaps, the role of standards, and how certification can help build the trust and consistency needed for sustainable CTV growth across Europe.
A big thank you to the following contributors for sharing their thoughts:
Elisa Schwuchow, Co-Founder, SceneContext, representing BVDW
Sotiris Oikonomou, Managing Director, MarkApp
Joe Jackson, Ad Tech Executive, IAB UK
Emmanuel Josserand, Sr Dir. Brand, Agency and Industry Relations, Comcast Advertising
Elisa: “One of the most critical gaps is the lack of granular, transparent data at the content level, specifically, show-level reporting. Without visibility into the actual content where ads appear, advertisers are flying blind when it comes to brand suitability, campaign effectiveness, and true contextual alignment. This is especially problematic in a fragmented European market, where different broadcasters, platforms, and device ecosystems create measurement silos. Contextual relevance - what someone is watching in the moment - matters deeply, especially on CTV, where attention is high and creative costs are significant. Bridging that content-level transparency gap is crucial for unlocking CTV’s full value.”
Sotiris: “The main issue is fragmentation, not data scarcity. Measurement standards vary across broadcasters, FAST platforms, OEMs, and CTV apps, making reach, frequency, and outcome comparison inconsistent. SSAI limits exposure validation, and cross-device attribution remains weak. As a result, measurement is often indicative rather than robust enough to support large-scale budget shifts.”
Joe: “We recently unveiled a new update to the TV+ profile of the IAB UK Gold Standard with the express purpose of promoting the implementation of foundational standards such as IAB Tech Lab’s OM SDK to help bridge measurement gaps. From recent consultations with our members about the update, it appears that gaps not only exist in the adoption of measurement standards, but crucially also in the awareness of these standards. The outcry of frustration around measurement gaps is clear; our job in 2026 will be to work with other trade bodies to promote some of the great illustrative and practical work by organisations like IAB Europe and IAB Tech Lab.”
Emmanuel: “For industry bodies, the focus continues to be on improving alignment across the video ecosystem and preventing the adoption of disparate tools and methodologies. The work is happening at different layers, from finding and setting common standards for CTV inventory to helping the industry evolve beyond simple metrics towards more meaningful, outcome-based measurement. Another key area of attention for industry initiatives is the coordination of privacy-safe measurement frameworks, as CTV continues to be hampered by data siloes and ineffective cross-platform measurement. All these efforts are aiming at enhancing consistency and independence in CTV measurement while reducing friction.”
Sotiris: “Industry bodies are focusing on standardisation over tooling. Work around OpenRTB for CTV, SSAI transparency, TCF consent signalling, and common definitions for viewability, and IVT is creating a shared technical baseline. This alignment allows commercial measurement solutions to operate more effectively across European markets.”
Joe: “Coming from a web display advertising background, it is often easy to overlook just how effective basic standards such as ads.txt or sellers.json are at helping buyers understand how their ads are reaching consumers. Correspondingly, it is of some concern that these initiatives are not nearly as ubiquitous in connected TV. It is my opinion that as digital TV continues to grow, advertisers will become ever more discerning with their campaigns, and when this happens, it will be crucial that we have established standards and methods of certification to endorse good practice and help maintain confidence in the ecosystem.”
Emmanuel: “Achieving independent certification of solutions and methodologies reinforces the industry's commitment to building the necessary unified and shared framework to support a fair and transparent digital advertising ecosystem. It is important that these initiatives are designed to bring the same level of accountability to the expanding CTV landscape that exists in TV. They represent an essential step for levelling the playing field while ensuring advertisers have access to the most streamlined path to quality and relevant supply.”
Sotiris: “Standards and certifications provide the trust layer in CTV. With server side delivery and complex supply paths, buyers need assurance around compliance, inventory quality, and comparability. Frameworks like TCF, OpenRTB 2.6, sellers.json, and schain enable transparency and accountability, which is essential for scaling institutional CTV budgets in Europe.”
To find out more about the work of our CTV Working Group and how you can get involved, please contact our Industry Development & Insights Director, Marie-Clare Puffett at puffett [at] iabeurope.eu.
